Huff is the winner of the new WTCC season opening race

The new season of the World Touring Cars Championship has started on Sunday at Circuit Paul Ricard and the winner of the opening race is Honda driver Robert Huff. He was leading through the whole race and deserved the first victory after 16 months.

Favorites were cautious as they didn’t want to rescue potential car damage for the afternoon’s main race. In a meantime, Fredrik Ekblom was out of the race but his car will be ready for the race 2 and Tom Coronelbattled with compatriot and Lada driver Nick Catsburg for the points.

Michelisz at the podium and first points for Volvo

Three laps before the end, Norbert Michelisz overtook Valente for third and everything was set for a Honda’s success. Former champion Huff won the race, Bennani finished second and Michelisz third. Tiago Monteiro moved up to fourth while Valente finished fifth, ahead of Lopez and Thed Bjork who scored first points for Volvo and Cyan Racing. Nick Catsburg, Tom Coronel, and Gregoire Demoustier also scored points in this race.

Norbert Michelisz, Honda

The start of the main race is scheduled for 17.00 CET and Jose Maria Lopez will start from pole position.